Iraq sends nearly 2,000 Syrian soldiers back home

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq sent back nearly 2,000 Syrian soldiers on Thursday to their homeland after they had sought refuge in Iraq during the advance of rebel forces that toppled President Bashar al-Assad earlier this month, according to an Iraqi military statement.

The Syrian soldiers were returned at their request and entered via a border crossing between Iraq and Syria, it said.

"In coordination with some parties on the Syrian side, 1,905 Syrian officers and soldiers were handed over in a legal manner to a protection force on the Syrian side at the Al-Qaim border crossing," the statement said.

Their weapons remained in the possession of the Iraqi defence ministry and would be handed over to a new Syrian government once formed, it added.

The troops crossed the border into Iraq shortly before Syrian rebels led by Ahmed al-Sharaa seized the capital Damascus unopposed on Dec. 8 after a lightning advance that sent Assad fleeing to Russia.

The Syrian General Command led by Sharaa has appointed a caretaker government, with Mohammad al-Bashir as prime minister till March.

The Iraqi military said the Syrian troops were returned after writing pledges asking to be included in an amnesty issued by the new Syrian authorities.

"The Iraqi security forces call on the current Syrian authorities to take care of the officers and soldiers who have been returned, include them in the amnesty, and ensure their return to their honourable families who are waiting for them, in compliance with human rights standards and in a showing of good faith," the statement said.

(Reporting by Muayad Kenany; Writing by Nayera Abdallah, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)